Finding the next Jamie Vardy is every football club’s dream.
The England international’s meteoric rise from non-league hopeful to Premier League winner with Leicester is the career that every hopeful yearns for. The 30-year-old striker realised his dream and he is doing his utmost to help others tread the same path.
‘The Next Jamie Vardy’ is a six part documentary that starts on Sky this Saturday charting the efforts of Vardy and his agent John Morris to help non-league players get that breakthrough chance via their V9 Academy.
Jamie Vardy is trying to help non-league players breakthrough via his V9 Academy. ‘The Next Jamie Vardy’ is a six part documentary that starts on Sky this Saturday charting the efforts of Vardy and his agent John Morris to help non-league players get that breakthrough chance
The fly on the wall series follows the stories of hopefuls in the build-up to their time in the V9 Academy and will look at how Vardy picked himself up from rejection by Sheffield Wednesday at 16 to forge a non-league career initially with Stockbridge Park Steels before eventually signing for Leicester and going on to represent England.
Vardy said: ‘There’s massive talent out there in non-league football and I hope this documentary has demonstrated that, by putting the spotlight on players trying to find a way to the top. I’m now hopeful that some of the clubs, scouts and players that were sceptical about what John (co-founder of V9) and I set out to do are won over.’
The signs are certainly promising with four landing professional contracts.
The Leicester striker initially started his career with non-league side Stockbridge Park Steels
Danny Newton, a former maintenance engineer from Liverpool, signed for Stevenage Borough this summer after impressing some of the 65 scouts who attended the week-long V9 Academy at Manchester City’s Etihad Campus in June.
The 26-year-old, who used to partner Watford’s Andre Gray at Hinckley United, scored a stunning goal for Stevenage against Crawley this week, taking his tally to four goals in eight games so far.
Before moving to Leicester where his goals fired them to the Premier League title in 2015-16
His performances earned him a call-up to the national side and he made his debut in June 2015
Newton is not alone as another graduate, winger Blair Turgott, formerly of West Ham and eventually Bromley, has also joined Stevenage.
Striker Lamar Reynolds grabbed 27 goals in 36 games for Brentwood Town in the Isthmian League Division One North last season and the 22-year-old has now been given a chance with League Two Newport County.
A fourth graduate, athletic right-back Alex Penny, moved from Nuneaton Town to Peterborough United for £50,000.
Vardy added: ‘There are many more hidden gems to be found outside the league and V9 will do all it can to help players realise their ultimate dream of playing professional football for club and country.’
The first episode of ‘The Next Jamie Vardy’ will start on Sky 1 from Saturday, September 16, at 11.30am